Twitter

What is twitter?

Short messages (140 characters) that are seen by those who follow you. Here's a short video description of what it is and why you should use it.

Why use twitter?

If you follow other educators you will discover what they're reading about, what websites they're finding, what opportunities they find, and more. You can follow lists of educators, or just follow hashtags about education. But, no matter how you choose to use it, you'll find that you will learn SO much from those you follow. Ideas for Use Follow conference-goer's tweets Follow astronauts, political leaders, news anchors Follow hashtags for your subject area or outside interest Set up a hashtag for your class Getting Started Set up a Twitter account at twitter.com Now you're ready to start to follow people or topics. It's that easy. Twitter Users Report Results of French election Watch how some clever French twitter users used a hashtag to report on election results - in spite of it being illegal to do so.

Tweetdeck Quick Start
NOTE: Tweetdeck is no longer available as a stand alone program. If you use Chrome as your browser there is a very nice extension that puts tweetdeck right in your browser window.

Visit www.tweetdeck.com, set up an account, and use tweetdeck in your browser window.

Resources

• Twitter for Educators - a nice article telling you how to get started
• Start by following those hashtags
• Another great resource for getting started
• A list to follow (Look for lists from other users, as well, They're a good way to find good educators.)
• A HUGE list of educators on twitter. May be more interesting than useful.
• Tweetchat - a great way to follow a hashtag, like #edchat, or #sschat. It creates a "room" of just those tweets.

Caution!

• Block and report spammers
• Sometimes even your friend's accounts get hacked and will send spam. "I can't believe what they're saying about you! <link>"
• If you protect your tweets they will not appear in a public stream.